


Through the dark

by mistilteinn



Series: Any road you take [5]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Asmodeus is straight-up evil y'all, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Magnus Bane is a BAMF, Mpreg, Mpreg Magnus, he canonically manipulates the shit out of magnus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 12:50:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18620974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistilteinn/pseuds/mistilteinn
Summary: Magnus visits Asmodeus in Edom. Things do not go according to plan.





	Through the dark

**Author's Note:**

> i've been sitting on this one for over a week. it was exceedingly difficult to write, and i'm not entirely happy with it, but i wanted to get it out there so that i can move on to the next pieces in the series. 
> 
> this was actually written in large part before "Every little thing" and right after 3x18 aired, when i was particularly furious about Asmodeus's manipulation and Alec's utter idiocy in summoning him to the mortal plane to speak through that poor clairvoyant warlock.
> 
> as far as this series and most of my other malec works are concerned, the only things that have happened in 3B are the confirmations of 1) Magnus wanting Alec to tie him down and fuck him up and 2) Alec wanting a child with Magnus. Everything else can go straight to hell (edom, whatever).
> 
>  **BIG NOTE:** please heed the tags. there's a scene in here where Asmodeus physically hurts Magnus a great deal. There are no lasting injuries, and the baby is fine, but please proceed with caution and take care of yourself!!
> 
> (title from "Sucker" by the Jonas Brothers. i really need them to release a new song so that i can keep writing more works in this series.) 
> 
> ((oh! also, wanted to let y'all know - i'm exclusively gonna be a dom/top Alec and sub/bottom Magnus writer. a few people have asked me about it, and i saw some other folks chatting about it amongst themselves and i just wanted to tell you all directly. i hope that's okay with everyone! if not, that's fine too lmao. i'm mostly just writing this stuff for myself))

Magnus frowned at himself in the mirror as he adjusted his pocket watch, draping the chain just so. He studied his reflection for a moment and shook his head, untied and redid his cravat, hands shaking, before finally shutting his eyes, still unhappy with what he saw.

He jumped when a weight gently rested on his shoulder, and he looked up to see that Alec was standing behind him, looking concerned.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Alec spoke in a low tone, eyes soft and sad. Magnus slid his gaze from Alec to his own reflection once more and considered the man he saw.

He swallowed and nodded shortly, turning around to face Alec directly. “I’ve got to. I may not be High Warlock anymore, but I still have a responsibility to my people.”

He looked down for a moment before smiling and continuing in a much lighter tone. “Besides, it’s not like you can go to Edom, and it would be ridiculous for you to try to summon my father to interview him.”

Alec raised his brows and squinted over Magnus’s shoulder, thinking for a moment before responding. “I mean, we potentially could use a clairvoyant warlock as a channel and talk to him that way.”

Magnus scrunched his nose and frowned, surprised that Alec would even suggest such a thing. He shook his head and rested a hand on Alec’s chest over his heart as he answered. “Are you insane? You know how strong he is - there’s no way any warlock would be able to close the connection once opened.”

Alec tilted his head, thinking, and nodded after a moment, looking a little embarrassed. “Yeah, you’re right - that’s a terrible idea. I don't even know where it came from.”

Magnus smiled up at him and patted his chest, feeling a little sly. He readied himself to run before speaking again. “That’s okay, darling. One of us has to have functioning brain cells.”

Alec frowned at him and furrowed his brow. “Hey!”

Magnus laughed at Alec’s indignant shout and spun on his heel, sprinting out of the bedroom and towards the front door to the loft.

He was almost there, just inches away from freedom when Alec caught him by the waist, pulling him off-course and using their combined momentum to swing him to the side, towards the living room.

Magnus laughed wildly when Alec pinned him against his chest and started to tickle everywhere he could reach. He gave as good as he got, wriggling and squealing all the while, as they stumbled towards the couch.

Magnus broke Alec’s hold just as they reached it and threw himself over the back and onto the cushions to safety - he miscalculated the jump, however, and rolled right over the edge, landing hard on his hands and knees on the floor with a loud thump.

Alec let out a panicked shout and jumped over the back of the couch as well, reaching for Magnus with a pinched expression, worry clear by the set of his brows.

“Alexander, I’m fine,” Magnus chided as he allowed Alec to help pull him up onto the couch, brushing off his knees along the way. “Honestly, I’m not made of glass.”

Alec didn’t let go of him after he was settled, placing their joined hands on his leg. He gestured to Magnus and spoke in a low tone, eyes wide and concerned. “But what about the baby?”

“I’m not fragile, Alexander. Just because I’m carrying a child now….that doesn’t make me _weak.”_ Magnus pulled his mouth to the side and paused for a moment. Apparently, they needed to have this conversation sooner rather than later. “I can do this - it’s just an interview. I’m more than strong enough for this mission, Alec.”

His fiance frowned at the use of his nickname and looked slightly abashed. When he answered, his voice was smaller than normal. “I know that you are. You’re the strongest person I know - the most powerful warlock I’ve ever met.”

He brought a hand up to cradle Magnus’s jaw, lips quirking when Magnus leaned into the gentle touch, and continued. “If I had to pick one person to fight alongside for the rest of my life, I would pick you in an instant, and not because you’re cute.”

He paused again, gaze darting down to Magnus’s lips for just a second. “Though you _are_ incredibly cute, I have to admit.”

Magnus matched Alec’s shy smile and turned his face, pressing a kiss to the hand that was still stroking his cheek.

“You’re a moron,” he started, ignoring Alec’s affronted look. “Why wouldn’t you pick Jace? You two literally fight as one, not to mention that you’re primarily a ranged fighter and he’s more skilled in hand-to-hand. It’s a perfect match. You’d be struggling to anticipate my moves since I switch between both fluidly, and you and I have only fought together a handful of times. There’s no world where you should pick me over Jace to fight next to.”

Alec closed his eyes slowly and an annoyed muscle twitched in his cheek. After a long moment, he blew air out through his mouth and responded in a flat voice, “I was _trying_ to be romantic.”

Magnus made a face at him. “Yeah. Romantic and dead.”

Alec just rolled his eyes and Magnus held back a smile.

—-

Several hours later, Magnus swallowed back the uneasy feeling in his gut as he cast the glamour. He didn’t often hide his bump, but there was something about the thought of his father knowing of the child just turned his blood to ice.

He twisted and turned, examining himself from all angles, feeling for any weakness in the spell. In addition to hiding the physical changes his body was going through, it also hid the bright star of his child’s developing magic. It was something he and Catarina had come up with together, and it was exceedingly complicated.

It also needed to be perfect in order for him to have a chance at fooling his father - what Asmodeus lacked in compassion, he more than made up for in shrewdness.

Satisfied, Magnus nodded to himself and began the spell to travel to Edom before he could hesitate and change his mind, decide to wait for Alec to return from the Institute before going. He knew there was no point in putting it off, that Alec couldn’t go with him, couldn’t do much more than give him a sweet kiss and hold his hand before he left, perhaps worry over him a little bit more.

Magnus shook his head and frowned to himself, finishing the incantation. He didn’t need Alec for this. He was plenty capable of completing every part of this mission on his own.

Several excruciating moments later and Magnus was in Edom, standing somewhat awkwardly outside of the gates of his father’s home.

He squared his shoulders, breathing in deeply, and forced himself to put one foot in front of the other, ignoring the cold dread that was slowly creeping its way through his body.

The front door opened rather ominously before he could raise a hand to knock, and he resisted the urge to turn around and leave right then - forgo any chance of interviewing his father in connection with the ravager sightings.

Instead of following his instincts, Magnus stepped into the manor, eyes down against the memories of the familiar halls.

Asmodeus was perched rather luxuriously on the throne in the middle of the parlor, exactly as he had been the last time Magnus was here - back when he lived in Edom as well. He suppressed a shudder at the thought of his old bedroom and raised his gaze.

“Ah, to what do I owe this great honor?” Asmodeus asked as he flipped through some ancient tome indifferently, an infuriating smirk curling his mouth.

Magnus clenched his jaw, refusing to snap so quickly and give his father the upper hand. He was going to stay calm, keep to the questions that he and Alec had agreed upon, and leave when he got his answers.

“Why are you trying to kill me?”

 _Shit._ That hadn’t been one of the questions Alec had suggested.

Asmodeus raised an unimpressed brow at him, looking rather bored, and answered. “I’m not trying to kill you. Still dramatic as ever, I see. Never grew out of that phase.”

 _Fuck it._ His father was never going to play nicely. He needed to try to get something out of Asmodeus, make this trip worthwhile somehow.

Magnus frowned at his father, every line of his body carrying tension as he bluffed. “Okay, let me rephrase that. Why do you keep sending _assassins_ after me? I know it’s you. Your magic is all over them.”

Asmodeus sniffed and examined his nails, affecting a wounded tone. “A Prince of Hell needs a reason to want to see his son? Not like you would have picked up the phone.”

Magnus shut his eyes for a second and tried not to let irritation color his voice. He was...unsuccessful.

“You don’t even have a phone!” He answered sharply. “And there are other ways of contacting me!”

Asmodeus looked at him directly for the first time since he’d arrived, and despite himself, Magnus had to push away the shiver that threatened to skitter down his back.

Asmodeus slowly stood from his chair and stepped forward, movements smooth and dangerous. Magnus stepped back without thinking and cursed himself, squaring his shoulders and forcing himself to stand tall.

Asmodeus looked down at him and spoke softly, the barest of hurt flashing through his gold eyes. “Would you have responded to anything less than what you perceived as a threat on your life?”

Magnus stayed quiet and averted his gaze, willing away the sudden and unwelcome guilt. They both knew the answer to that question.

Asmodeus stepped to the side and the theatrical note returned to his voice when he spoke again. “I had to hear from Lilith of all people that you’re expecting. Can you _imagine_ how embarrassing that was? How dare you not tell your father when you’ve gotten yourself knocked up out of wedlock. Let me guess - it was that Lightwood boy.”

Magnus jolted and looked back at his father. Cold dread sluiced down his back when Asmodeus smiled sharply at him, and he was reminded of how a predator might bare its teeth right before striking. He wrapped his arms around himself, hoping against hope that his father wouldn’t exploit his vulnerability this one time.

Asmodeus laughed and continued speaking, circling Magnus. “Oh, and you’re trying to hide the evidence, aren’t you? You thought that I wouldn’t be able to see through your little glamour? Who taught you how to do that in the first place?”

Something in Magnus snapped at the reminder of his father’s painful and harsh magic lessons and he answered hotly. “Okay, well, if all you wanted was to guilt and insult me, goodbye and fuck you.”

He made to leave and Asmodeus waved an uncaring hand at him, continued as if he hadn’t spoken at all. “I’m not going to be one of those absent grandparents who just sends a birthday check every year - I’m not waiting until high school graduation to meet the child. Oh my - you’re not planning to send him to high school, are you?”

Irritation flared in his chest and Magnus shut his eyes, drawing on positive memories from time spent with Alec to even his voice. “So,” he started, sounding slightly choked. “The assassins?”

Asmodeus continued. “Right, right, perhaps I was a tad rash when I sent the first one. And the second one. And possibly the third as well. But I really needed to see you.”

Magnus said nothing, raising his brow bitchily and rubbing his lower back. He was getting sore.

“I wanted to make sure that I RSVP’d to your baby shower. I can’t miss it.”

Magnus froze for a second, taken completely by surprise. He did a double take at his father, furrowing his brow. He couldn’t banish the attitude from his tone, didn’t really try in the first place. “Are you - is this a joke? You most certainly are NOT coming to the baby shower. There will be Nephilim there. Your invitation did not get lost in the inter-dimensional mail system - you will be RSVP-ing exactly nowhere.”

Asmodeus went eerily still and Magnus tensed, regretting his words immediately.

When he spoke, quiet as a whisper, Magnus flinched. He’d made a mistake in coming here. He’d made a grave mistake.

“Oh, is that so. Well, then I suppose I’ll just have to rip the child from your womb.”

And suddenly - pain like Magnus had never felt before. Tearing from somewhere below his stomach, worse than he was capable of imagining. The taste of blood filled his mouth and he fell to his knees, vision going blurry. The pain, so loud in his ears - distantly, he heard screaming. His instincts going haywire, nothing but save the baby, save the baby, _save the baby,_ and he tried to open his mouth to beg, found that it was already open, that he was the one screaming.

He opened his eyes (when had they shut?), that awful tearing splitting him in two, and sobbed, voice breaking as he shouted. “No no no no, please, no, I’ll do anything, you can come, just please stop, please let me keep my baby!”

And as abruptly as it began, the pain stopped. It left him weak on his knees, curled as small as he could be, vaguely nauseated.

Asmodeus responded, voice lightly chiding and playful. “Ah, I’m glad to see you’ve decided to stop overreacting to simple requests! Well, that’s all I wanted. Perhaps send a letter next time you go through any major life changes and we won’t have to repeat this unpleasant little event.”

Magnus’s mind slowly started working again. He kept his arms wrapped around his midsection until the last remnants of the pain drained away and stared at the ground ahead of him, gathering his thoughts. He could survive this. He’d survived this for almost a century.

Asmodeus’s impeccably polished shoes entered Magnus’s line of sight. He raised his eyes to meet his father’s gaze and slowly stood, anger burning bright in his veins.

Asmodeus stepped close, rested a hand on Magnus’s shoulder, and spoke softly, sadly. “You know that I don’t _want_ to hurt you, right? I wish that I never had to.”

How many times had Magnus heard those words and believed them? He mourned for the younger Magnus, who thought himself deserving of Asmodeus’s twisted version of love and nothing more.

Never again.

Never again would he think himself worthy of his father’s treatment.

So Magnus set his jaw and looked Asmodeus in the eye as he lied. “I know, Father. It’s okay.”

Asmodeus pulled him in for an embrace and responded. “I love you, son.”

Solidifying his decision, Magnus answered. His words were for the demon in front of him. His thoughts were for the young boy that he had once been - the scared and lonely child that Asmodeus had exploited and abused.

“I love you too, Father.” _I’m going to banish you from existence._

Satisfied, Asmodeus nodded and smiled, a killer’s snarl. Magnus bared his teeth right back.

As dangerous as Asmodeus was, he always seemed to forget that he had raised Magnus to be a deadly predator too.

Asmodeus turned to face the clock at the head of the room and jumped. “Ah! Look at the time - Lilith is coming over for bridge soon and this place is a mess. Go now, I’ll see you at the shower.”

Magnus nodded and breathed in when Asmodeus lifted his hand, a great pressure releasing in his chest. He knew what he had to do. He was strong enough for this.

\---

Magnus waited a few hours before messaging Alec to let him know that he was home. He wanted to have some time to decompress, to process what had happened in Edom, and to make sure that the life inside of him was as bright as ever.

After a long bath and a quick bite to eat, he was finally calm and satisfied and he texted his fiance, first saying that everything was fine, then saying that they had some things to talk about. Alec immediately responded, indicating that he was on his way.

A few minutes later, Alec was there. He was clearly tense, a little jittery. His eyes darted over Magnus’s form when he stepped inside and he immediately pulled the warlock in for a hug.

“How was it?” Alec asked, enveloping Magnus completely. Magnus let himself relax completely, surrounded by the man he loved.

“Predictably awful,” Magnus answered, shrugging in his hold. He continued, stepping back to look Alec in the eye. “Definitely successful, though.”

Alec raised a brow at him, rubbed his hands up and down Magnus’s arms encouragingly.

“He _was_ behind the ravener incidents. He was trying to send me a message.” Magnus paused, almost embarrassed of Asmodeus now that he was safely in the mortal realm.

“And?”

“He wants to come to the baby shower.”

Alec stared at him for a moment, clearly looking for any trace of mirth on his face. When he found none, he slowly responded. “...Did you invite him?”

Magnus grimaced. “I had to. But don’t worry - I have a plan.”

Alec inclined his head, lips quirked just the slightest bit. Magnus felt a rush of affection at the sight and wound his arms around Alec’s shoulders, sighing happily when Alec tugged him closer by the waist, resting his chin on the top of Magnus’s head and swaying them in place.

“I’m going to kill him.”

Alec stopped swaying them for a moment before his grip tightened and he resumed, speaking softly. “I don’t mean to undermine your powers, but. Is that - possible?”

Magnus snuggled closer, pressing his face to the hollow of Alec’s neck and breathing in deeply, that otherworldly scent making him a little lightheaded.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I’ll have to do some more research.”

“I love research!” Alec said brightly above him. “When do we start?”

Magnus abruptly pulled back, eyes searching Alec’s face. “You’re going to help me?”

Alec’s hazel eyes were painfully earnest as he answered. “Of course I’m gonna help you. You’re the love of my life. Whatever you want, I want.”

Magnus flushed and tried to hold back a smile, feeling unmoored and rather foolish. Of course, he knew that he was strong enough to do this on his own - he just hadn’t quite considered the idea that he wouldn’t have to.

Alec brought a hand up to cradle Magnus’s cheek. Alec’s eyes went soft when Magnus leaned into it and he dipped down, brushed a kiss to his forehead.

He spoke against the skin, voice low and gravelly. “There’s a joke somewhere in there about everyone wanting their in-laws dead. I’m not going to make it, but I want you to know that I know it’s there.”

Magnus snorted and balled his hands in the material of Alec’s jacket, shaking his head.

“Well - thank you for both your wit and restraint, darling. I don’t know how I would get by without either.”

Alec hummed interestedly before answering, hands soothing up and down Magnus's back, expertly rubbing away the last bits of tension. “Did you say restraints?”

Magnus broke into a true smile at that and tugged Alec towards the bedroom, feeling pleasantly loose-boned and playful. "That I did, my dear - that I did."

 

**Author's Note:**

> 3.2k words and not a single sex scene??? who am i and what did i do with mistilteinn???
> 
> next part is gonna be all smut, don't worry. 
> 
> (um i'm thinking about doing a lil college au oneshot with lovable popular jock Alec and prickly academic, possibly shy Magnus. what y'all think? would you want that?)
> 
> also please comment below any positive thoughts or feedback. we had to put down my dog this week and things have been really hard. i like, really need some support. love all of you.


End file.
